Senior Week Ch. 01: Tough Love

His fingers twitched as he ran his gaze over the room. It smelled a bit sweet, like perfume or scented body lotion. Like a girl's room. He stiffened with reflexive excitement as his eyes drifted to the bed nearest to him and locked onto a discarded bikini top law strewn across the comforter. It was the red and white striped one that Rachel had been wearing earlier when he'd first seen her.

The image forced another pleasurable jolt through him as it pushed his brain down naturally connecting pathways. The sight of Rachel's discarded clothing made him immediately imagine her undressing in this very spot. He could see her smiling playfully to herself as she stripped off her suit and prepared to get ready for the evening. She'd turn away from the dresser and shake her hair out as the painfully perfect contour of her naked body stood out in the open.

The fantastical image was bolstered by the only true corroboration for such a picture he'd ever had: the two glimpses he'd gotten of her during that surreal morning after prom. The first had been her kneeling completely naked from behind as she'd been so generously servicing his friend Jeff in his basement. Kevin had suspected that such an activity was occurring and he'd been so overcome with fitful jealousy and arousal that he hadn't been unable to resist creeping down the basement stairs and observing from afar.

The second had come mere minutes later when Rachel and Jeff had emerged from the basement, clearly finished with what they'd gone down there to do. Kevin had already been sick with jealous lust and hurt, but the moment had taken an even further confusing turn when Jeff had teasingly pulled up the font of Rachel's shirt in some sort of twistedly joking way of both embarrassing her and 'rewarding' Kevin for keeping watch over their illicit act.

The emotional trauma of the day (and the accompanying images tattooed permanently onto his brain) had never really left Kevin being able to feel the same way about his friend ever since. It had created a painful and seemingly unjust reality. Just as he'd seen (and somewhat experienced) her in the most abjectly sexual way he'd ever had before, he had simultaneously been forced to put down the torch he'd been carrying and move seamlessly into the new world of being only her friend. It was like he'd been one number away from winning a lottery he had played every week of his life just before being told he would no longer be allowed to purchase another ticket.

Kevin's twisting daze evaporated suddenly as a touch to his shoulder brought him back to the moment. The imagined image of Rachel stepping out of her bikini faded from his mind and he turned in quick embarrassment to react to Rebecca's touch. His fingers twitched again as his thoughts switched back to why they were there in the first place. To talk about Rachel and the guy she was with. His jaw tightened and his stomach twisted with discomfort.

Rebecca took in Kevin's obvious nervousness with an amused smile. But beneath the cool dispassion of her expression, she was almost as on edge as he was. She was firmly buzzing from the drinking she'd done and she was glad for that. She couldn't believe that she was actually going to do what she'd decided. That she was going to-.

Her smirking lips curled further as she shivered and tried to justify it again in her head. It wasn'tallthat crazy. Right? Kevin was a good guy and he was pretty cute. Her ears tingled. Itwaspretty out there. And the fact that he was Rachel's closest guy friend and she had no idea? The thought made Rebecca tremble with an unexpected rush of excitement as she realized that that was part of it. A big part actually.

Remembering again that her mission was going to first require some tough love, Rebecca hardened her expression back into one of stern seriousness as she stepped past Kevin's body and indicated for him to sit down on the other bed at the far end of the room. He hesitated for a moment before an expectant eyebrow from Rebecca spurred him into compliance. His hands still twitching nervously, he crossed the room and sat where he was told.

Rebecca watched silently as Kevin eased his weight onto the edge of the bed and looked up at her with an expression of anxious confusion. She bit her lip and approached, stopping in front of a dresser that stood next to the bed and faced a mirror. Keeping her green eyes fixed intensely on her own reflection, she took a final breath and began to speak in a low, mysterious tone.

"Did Rachel ever tell you why she and I stopped being friends a little while back?"

She flicked her penetrating gaze over to Kevin and waited patiently as he fidgeted. She knew she'd caught him off guard with such an out of the blue question.

Kevin flinched as the query slipped through him like an icy chill. A series of twisting memories from his conversation with Rachel the evening after prom flashed across his brain. He shook his head and swallowed.

"Um, yeah, well, sort of. I think."

He cut off, and widened his eyes at her, hoping the conversation might not continue in that direction if he avoided prompting it himself.

But Rebecca only stared back at him an expectant expression. She raised her eyebrow subtly, indicating that he was to continue.

"And?"

Kevin inhaled through his nose and felt his face get tingly. He didn't like thinking about Rachel being with other guys. It turned him on in a twisted way but it mainly made him feel jealous and uncomfortable. He swallowed again, this time harder, and tried to avoid mumbling in response.

"Um, I don't-. I think she said something about how she had messed up and, uh, hooked up with, like, an ex-boyfriend of yours. And then, like, some other guy you both knew too that she shouldn't have."

Kevin swallowed for the third time and nervously scratched at the back of his head. He didn't want to delve into it much further. Rachel hadn't given him the exact play-by-play but she had told him a little more than that. Hoping to again move the conversation elsewhere, he verbalized the lie.

"She didn't really, like, go into the details or anything. So, you know..."

Rebecca smiled dryly as Kevin trailed off in obvious discomfort. Steeling herself once more, she turned back towards her reflection.

" 'Didn't go into the details', huh?" She smirked.

"Well. Let me fill you in."

She pivoted fully to face Kevin straight on and she locked her fiery green eyes onto his. Looking down at him from her taller vantage point, she inhaled sharply and parted her lips.

"Rachel gave my ex a blowjob at a party we were both at. She waited until after I'd left and she took him into a bathroom. And she sucked his dick."

Rebecca set her jaw and paused as Kevin's eyes went wide. She cleared her throat and continued.

"Then, the very next morning, she went over to another boy's house. A boy she knew I hated because he had done something awful and humiliated me. She went to this boy's house and she sucked his dick, too. But that wasn't all. That same ex of mine showed up while Rachel was there. And Rachel fucked him. She fucked him and blew the other guy at the same time."

Rebecca pushed her lips together tightly and held her breath in as she fully absorbed Kevin's reaction. The color had drained completely from his face. She knew Rachel had told him about the event but she was sure that she had spared him the gruesome details, simply because all it would've done was make him feel worse.

Make him feel like he was feeling now.

But while Rebecca knew she was hurting Kevin, it wasn't some for some sadistic purpose. And she wasn't secretly trying to backstab Rachel either. She had genuinely forgiven her friend, and while the scar of what had happened between them would likely never completely disappear, Rebecca had truly let it all go.

She was bringing it up now because Kevin needed to see. He needed it to be held up to his face with his eyelids peeled back and forced to stare at it and take it in. He needed to breathe it and taste it in the corners of his mouth. He had this idealistic image of Rachel and he allowed himself to ignore the truths about her as he continued down his fruitless path of pining away. Rebecca had to shake Rachel from the unrealistic pedestal that Kevin had placed her on. She had to wake him from his trance.

Silence suffocated the room for several seconds before Kevin finally found the power to speak. His voice trembled and his tone came out deflated and weak.

"Why are you-? Um, why are you telling me all this? I thought that you and her were cool again and that-."

Rebecca cut him off as she finally softened her stoic mask and widened her eyes warmly. Leaning closer to his face, she smiled and touched him gently on the shoulder.

"No, Kevin. It's not about-. I love Rachel. She's my best friend. My sister."

She nodded reassuringly as she paused to give his shoulder a tender squeeze. She could feel the forced tension in his muscles and she smiled again before continuing in a more serious tone.

"But look, she's no angel. And she's tried to tell you that in the gentlest way she can because she doesn't want to hurt you. But you also have no right to make her feel guilty about living her life. And I know you aren't trying to, but that is exactly what you're doing."

She sighed and lowered her grip to squeeze Kevin's arm firmly as she finished the thought.

"I'm not telling you this to be a bitch. I promise. But you think she's this perfect creature. And she's not. None of us are. And if you keep thinking she is or keep expecting to find that, well..."

She trailed off with a shrug and kept her eyes directly on Kevin's. His face was tight and pained and his hands twitched uncomfortably. She knew she'd just laid a lot on him. She'd been brutally firm and blunt because she'd had to break him. At least in this way.

She knew that Kevin wouldn't challenge her, and that if she told him to leave Rachel alone, he would comply. But that wasn't a solution either. It would just simply force Kevin to retreat to his house and awkwardly avoid all contact with the girls for the remainder of the week. If he was shaken enough, he might even leave the beach entirely and go back home. Rebecca didn't want to ruin his vacation. Not in the slightest. So now that she had knocked him down, she had to build him back up. And she'd make him finally understand that there was a whole other world outside of his painful chasing of a hopeless fantasy.

As Kevin fought to steady himself, Rebecca moved in for the kill. She brought her other hand to his shoulder and rubbed him gently. Her face was serious and firm, but a certain playfulness danced behind her eyes. She inhaled deeply and spoke, this time in a softer tone.

"The point, sweetie, is that you're going about this all wrong. You're spending all your energy on something that isn't going to happen and it's making you miserable. You're here to have fun, for God's sake!"

She broke her serious expression and began to trace her fingers down his arm as she continued.

"And what youaren'tseeing is that there is plenty ofotherfun to be had..."

As he'd taken in each word of Rebecca's devastating speech, Kevin had been completely and utterly paralyzed. Frozen by the icy truth she'd laid on him and bludgeoned by its raw and vulgar explicitness. He'd never been more awkwardly uncomfortable in his entire life. All he'd wanted to do was leave the room, leave the house, and crawl into his bed to be alone. Rebecca sure hadn't pulled any punches, and while she'd succeeded in jarring his image of Rachel, it hadn't done the slightest bit to make him any feel better. He felt worse. He felt awful.

He'd suddenly regretted coming down to the beach at all. What had he even been thinking that spending a week living next door to Rachel could possibly be a good idea? The next several days were going to be agonizingly painful and awkward and packing it in and going back home seemed to be the only sane choice. What was the point of sticking around and intentionally dragging himself and his confusing emotions through shards of broken glass?

These were the thoughts that were choking every sensor in his brain and twisting his stomach into a pretzel knot. But everything came to a screeching halt the second he registered Rebecca's final words and felt her playful touch. The psychological nausea. The tortured frustration. The gaping spiral of pain and self-pity. Poof. Gone. Like a wisp of smoke.

The turn in emotions seized him electrically and he fought hard to keep from shaking as Rebecca's fingers danced delicately down his upper arm, skipped across his chest, and finally came to rest on his inner thigh. His face tingled and his throat went dry as the completely unexpected reality of the situation hit him like a hurricane force gust of wind. His eyes widened and he stared directly into Rebecca's face, which hadn't changed at all, save the inkling of a devious grin forming on her lips. He swallowed hard and felt his brain begin to get hot. Was she actually saying what he thought she was saying? Was Rebecca telling him that she'd-?

Rebecca sensed the understanding beginning to take over so she moved quickly to offer a final confirmation. She let her hands pass purposefully across the front of his jeans before slipping them up under his shirt. Her fingernails probed the cool skin of his chest and she grinned to herself as she felt him shudder pleasurably in response. Adjusting her eyes and breaking finally into a full, friendly smile, she nodded and spoke in her most sultry, purring tone.

"Mmmm. That's it."

Not giving him a chance to respond, Rebecca leaned in and brought her face to his. Her body met his roughly and she let her weight push them both down onto the mattress. Now lying practically on top of him, she parted her soft lips and slipped her tongue firmly into his mouth. She knew he was likely terrified and confused but she wasn't going to let him shrink away from the moment. Kevin needed this. And it was the only way to save him, her, and Rachel from a week of awkward politeness.

She smiled as Kevin exhaled and met her tongue with his own. He was actually a pretty good kisser. She knew there was a greater purpose behind what she was doing, but she realized that she was certainly going to enjoy it, too. She wasn't really "into" Kevin per se, but shedidlike him from the handful of times they'd crossed paths or hung out. He certainly suffered from a lack of confidence, but once he warmed up, he was witty and sharp and fun to be around.

And that was why she'd needed to do what she'd done. Needed to break his shell in the bluntest and most forward way she knew how. She smirked as she felt the tension in his lungs and the firm pressure of his hardness straining against the front of his jeans. His body was clearly responding with full-on arousal to her touch and very presence, yet, prior to this moment, Rebecca was sure that he'd likely never given her much more than a passing sexual thought whenever Rachel had been in the same room. She smiled to herself as she swirled her tongue around his and pressed her breasts more fully into his chest. She certainly had his attention now.

As the heat of the moment continued to intensify, Kevin's head swam with so many thoughts and emotions that he wondered if his brain might crack in two. He had gone from feeling the lowest of all lows about Rachel to completely forgetting her very existence. He had never picked up the slightest sign from Rebecca that she might be into him, even in a casual hookup kind of a way. And as she kissed him hungrily and ran her hands all over through his hair, wave after wave of arousing excitement coursed through his veins.

Rebecca was the most attractive girl he had ever kissed (his strange make-out session with Rachel the morning after prom notwithstanding) and he found himself wondering just how far she was planning to go. The thought forced a nervous tremor through his gut and he steadied his nerves to stay in control and in the present. Kevin didn't hook up very often and his confidence level with girls wasn't exactly sky high. He'd dated some and even gotten a few casual blowjobs here and there but he was still officially a virgin. He didn't know what Rebecca's situation was in that regard but from the way she looked to the way she talked, he'd guessed she was no sexual novice. It was exciting and intimidating all at once so he simply kept kissing her and doing his best to focus on the unbelievable gift that had fallen into his lap. Whatever happened, would happen. It was simply time to go with the flow.

Rebecca could sense Kevin's apprehension and she smiled to herself as his nervous hands rubbed along her back never daring to fall to her ass. It was obvious that he had no idea what was going on or what to expect from any of what was happening. This was her show. One-hundred percent. It was up to her to lead the way, and as her own buzzing excitement continued to peak, she decided to lead on.

Giving a final playful twist of her tongue, Rebecca grinned and leaned back from Kevin's face. She pushed her weight back up off him and smoothed hair flowing hair. Her fingertips tingled at the excitement of what was coming and she grinned as she looked down at the terrified yet smiling boy below her and his saucer-sized eyes. Standing tall, she giggled and ran her gaze over his body with an exhale of satisfied confidence.

"Aha! There's that smile! See? I knew it was in there somewhere." She grinned again and raised a playful eyebrow. "Well, youlookhappy now, but you stillfeelso tense. So, so tense! You need to relax." She bit her lip and let her gaze fall purposefully to the front of his pants.

"And I'm going to help you with that."

Kevin didn't dare move a muscle as he watched Rebecca and absorbed her words. He wasn't sure exactly what she meant, but she obviously seemed to be moving things to the next level. He jumped as he felt her move his legs around and position them so that they hung freely off the end of the bed. Too scared to breathe or even sit up, he shivered as she leaned over him and brought her playful fingers to his waist.

His breath quickened and he felt his heart bang hard in his chest as Rebecca deftly popped the button on his jeans and began to slide his zipper down. As she tugged suggestively on the dark blue denim, Kevin instinctively raised his butt off the mattress to give her space. He brought his hands to his face and closed his eyes as he felt her slide his pants to the floor with a smooth, easy motion. He jumped again and stifled a loud breath as her fingertips made contact with his flesh, directly above the waistband of his boxer briefs. He felt his throat go dry as he finally mustered the nerve to lift his head up and take in the image.

He watched as Rebecca grinned back towards him and hooked her fingers firmly around the elastic. His heart stopped and dizziness overcame his senses as she pulled his underwear gently down his body and towards his thighs. The room began to spin and he gasped as his desperately hard cock sprung free from its confines and into the coolness of the room's air. Keeping his eyes locked onto Rebecca, he swallowed hard as she smiled back and dropped delicately to her knees at the edge of the bed. His senses exploded as her cool fingers wrapped around his shaft causing it to twitch and jump in reaction. He strained his neck to keep watching and held his breath in as she spoke.

"Relax, sweetie. I'll take it from here."

Everything stopped as Kevin slumped his head back to the mattress and pushed his hands roughly over his eyes. His final few anticipatory breaths seemed to hang in the air for an eternity. He could hear the ticking of the second hand on the clock across the room as every sense he had hit its peak. The smell of the sheets. The taste of Rebecca's tongue still fresh in his mouth. The feeling of her fingers gripping his shaft as she stroked him to a friendly rhythm. It was all unimaginably surreal and Kevin gritted his teeth as he waited for the final sensation to arrive.